BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



           ------------------------------------------------------------ 
          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  SB 1479|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                         |
          |1020 N Street, Suite 524          |                         |
          |(916) 651-1520         Fax: (916) |                         |
          |327-4478                          |                         |
           ------------------------------------------------------------ 
           
                                         
                              UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 1479
          Author:   Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee
          Amended:  5/10/10
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE PUBLIC EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE  :  6-0, 4/12/10
          AYES:  Correa, Ashburn, Corbett, Cox, Ducheny, Liu

           SENATE FLOOR  :  35-0, 4/15/10
          AYES:  Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Calderon, Cedillo,  
            Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, DeSaulnier, Florez,  
            Hancock, Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff, Kehoe, Leno, Liu,  
            Lowenthal, Maldonado, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla,  
            Pavley, Price, Romero, Runner, Simitian, Steinberg,  
            Strickland, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Denham, Ducheny, Dutton, Wiggins,  
            Vacancy

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  76-0, 7/1/10 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote


           SUBJECT  :    1937 Act County Retirement Law System  
          Housekeeping Bill

           SOURCE  :     Alameda County Employees Retirement Association
                      South Coast Air Quality Management District
                      State Association of County Employee Retirement  
          Systems



                                                           CONTINUED





                                                               SB 1479
                                                                Page  
          2

           DIGEST  :    This bill makes technical and non-controversial  
          changes to the 1937 Act County Retirement Law.

           Assembly Amendments  made clarifying changes and added  
          provisions regarding the exemption of a person, making less  
          than $80 per month, from membership in the association.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          1.Existing law:

             A.    Establishes the County Employees Retirement Law of  
                1937, which governs 20 independent county retirement  
                systems.

             B.    Allows an employee who moves from one public  
                employer to another public employer to accrue service  
                credit in separate public retirement systems and to  
                have reciprocity among the different retirement  
                systems with regard to certain benefits; however,  
                that employee cannot receive reciprocity if service  
                is earned in more than one retirement system during  
                the same period.

             C.    Allows the retirement board of a county retirement  
                system to set the date upon which a new employee  
                becomes a credited member of the system, but that  
                date must be no later than six weeks after the day of  
                entering employment with the participating country.

                This bill allows the retirement board of a county to  
                set the date upon which a new employee becomes, or  
                ceases being, a member, but that date could be no  
                later than 12 weeks after the day of entering  
                employment with the county and no sooner than 12  
                weeks prior to ending employment under the previous  
                employer.

               Source:  State Association of County Employee  
            Retirement Systems 

          2.Existing law requires that counties in the 1937 Act  
            system transfer payments to the county retirement  
            associations to fund the cost of retiree benefits.   

                                                           CONTINUED





                                                               SB 1479
                                                                Page  
          3

            Existing law also allows a county board of supervisors to  
            authorize the county auditor to make payments to the  
            retirement system in advance of when those payments would  
            otherwise be due.

            This bill allows a district in San Bernardino County that  
            participates in the San Bernardino County Employee  
            Retirement Association (SBCERA) to also make advance  
            payments to that retirement system.

            Source:  South Coast Air Quality Management District, a  
            SBCERA 
                              participating agency

          3.Existing law establishes the Supplemental Retiree  
            Benefits Reserve (SRBR), to be used exclusively for the  
            benefit of retirees under county retirement systems that  
            have elected to be subject to those provisions  
            (specifically, Alameda, Kern and Tulare counties).

            This bill clarifies that the administrative costs of  
            operating the SRBR in Alameda County may be paid through  
            the main retirement program in order to comply with IRS  
            rulings regarding the exclusive benefits rule.

            Source:  Alameda County Employees Retirement Association 

          4.Existing law authorizes a retirement board to include, by  
            regulation, provisions exempting or excluding from  
            membership persons whose tenure is temporary, seasonal or  
            intermittent, or for part time only, persons whose rate  
            of compensation is fixed at a rate of pay by the day or  
            hour.

            This bill deletes the authorization for a retirement  
            board to exempt or exclude from membership a person whose  
            rate of compensation is less than $80 per month.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  7/2/10)

          Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association  

                                                           CONTINUED





                                                               SB 1479
                                                                Page  
          4

          (co-source)
          State Association of County Retirement Systems (co-source)
          South Coast Air Quality Management District (co-source)


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,  
            Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,  
            Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero,  
            Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto,  
            Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Eng, Evans, Feuer,  
            Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,  
            Garrick, Gatto, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi,  
            Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,  
            Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,  
            Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez,  
            Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner,  
            Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson,  
            Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Fletcher, Ma, John A. Perez, Vacancy


          CPM:cm  7/2/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

                                ****  END  ****


















                                                           CONTINUED